PM accorded red carpet reception in Cambodia

Cambodia today rolled out a red carpet as Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in Phnom Penh this afternoon on a three-day official visit to Cambodia at the invitation of her Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen.

A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage members landed at Phnom Penh International Airport at 12:30pm local time.

Cambodian Women Affairs Minister Ing Kantha Pahvi, Under Secretary of State on Foreign Affairs and International Assistance Eat Sophea, Cambodian non-resident Ambassador to Bangladesh Pochkhun Panha and Bangladesh Ambassador to Thailand Saida Muna Tasneem, who is concurrently accredited to Cambodia, received the prime minister at the airport.

A Cambodian girl presented a bouquet to the premier when she alighted from the aircraft, while Bangladeshi citizens living in Phnom Penh greeted her by waving Bangladesh national flag.

After the reception at the airport, the Bangladesh prime minister, in a ceremonial motorcade, was taken to Hotel Sofitel, where she will be staying during her visit to Cambodia.

The road from the airport to the hotel was tastefully decorated with the national flags of the two countries as well as the portrait of Sheikh Hasina, the Cambodian King and prime minister.

In the afternoon, the Bangladesh premier will place wreath at the Independence Monument at Phnom Penh. She will also lay wreath at the Royal Memorial Statue of Late King of Cambodia Norodom Sihanouk.

The prime minister will hold official talks with her Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen tomorrow. Before the talks, the two premiers will have a tete-a-tete.

Official sources said as many as 11 instruments, two agreements and nine memorandums of understanding (MoUs), will be signed between Bangladesh and Cambodia during the prime minister's visit.

The naming of two important roads in Dhaka and Phnom Penh after the Father of the Nation of both the countries will be announced. The prime minister will return home in the afternoon on December 5.

Bangabandhu's younger daughter Sheikh Rehana, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak, PM's Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, Chief Coordinator on the SDG Affairs at the Prime Minister's Office Md Abul Kalam Azad, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Huq and PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim, among others, are accompanying the prime minister.